Hey NG - long time no post. I've gone from a ER needlewheel to an ATI BM160 and I believe one thing now - meshwheels can be more powerful than needlewheels in foam production and skimming ... but are also more inherently finicky and require more "fiddling" to keep things in the sweet spot. I think my BM160 outperforms my ER but it takes more hands-on to keep it performing well while my ER was more of a "drop it in a sump and forget about it" skimmer. That's for what it's worth and it's the last thing I'm going to say about skimmers since it's such a polarizing subject ... except one more thing. If you're happy with your ASM, there's nothing wrong with that but you may want to look at the other skimmers that are newer in technology and cost about the same like the Octopus or the DAS. I hear you about the cost of skimmers.

In any case, I wanted to ask why you weren't looking at doing a fuge with this tank? Having high flow / high skimming doesn't necessarily mean that you can't use a fuge with the system; the two are not exclusive of each other. If you're looking to lower nitrates/phosphates, a fuge is not a bad thing (neither is a RDSB). More export of nutrients can never be bad.

Thanks, adding some T5's is a good idea. That way I could create the dusk/dawn effect as well.

I really don't know why I've had so much trouble with bleaching.. but I have.

I am so jealous, I couldnt get anyone to sell me a tech tank with a lead time under 2 months My house projects will not wait two months so I have an AGA instead. On the positive side I did save some $$

Nanogurl, what do you feed your fish to make them look so healthy and beautiful? That powder blue looks like you just teleported her from Hawaii. Beautiful fish, I want to know how to get my tiny blue tang to turn out like "Ocean." Do you use Selcon?

Originally posted by crvz Thanks! I would consider the 250 again, I've been really happy with their service and the product is a good choice... but for some reason lately I'm being drawn to the ATI BubbleMaster skimmers. The ATI BM200 is more than I paid for the ER CS250 that I've got, but it just seems like a good product. I'd have to do research to really convince myself, though.

Yea, I saw it would be $600 for the Bubble Master for the size I would want. I don't know if it's worth another $130 upgrade from the ER?

Originally posted by spleen93 Hey NG - long time no post. I've gone from a ER needlewheel to an ATI BM160 and I believe one thing now - meshwheels can be more powerful than needlewheels in foam production and skimming ... but are also more inherently finicky and require more "fiddling" to keep things in the sweet spot. I think my BM160 outperforms my ER but it takes more hands-on to keep it performing well while my ER was more of a "drop it in a sump and forget about it" skimmer. That's for what it's worth and it's the last thing I'm going to say about skimmers since it's such a polarizing subject ... except one more thing. If you're happy with your ASM, there's nothing wrong with that but you may want to look at the other skimmers that are newer in technology and cost about the same like the Octopus or the DAS. I hear you about the cost of skimmers.

In any case, I wanted to ask why you weren't looking at doing a fuge with this tank? Having high flow / high skimming doesn't necessarily mean that you can't use a fuge with the system; the two are not exclusive of each other. If you're looking to lower nitrates/phosphates, a fuge is not a bad thing (neither is a RDSB). More export of nutrients can never be bad.

Love the planning stage of a tank ...

Spleen

Hey stranger =)

Thanks for the great info... that def helps me out. I'm all about plug and play lol. I don't want to have to mess with a skimmer anymore then necessary.. but I know all skimmers are like that to a degree.

I just don't know how much a fuge is really going to help me. The small size of chaeto in my sump now can't possibly do THAT much nitrate reduction... vs the detris that gets trapped in their from feeding my eel mainly... I just don't know if it would really add anything to my tank at this point.

I have not ruled out a fuge.. i like the idea of one mainly bc I have a lobster that is in there now... but i have a lot of algae and red cyno (i think) in there and it just seems easier if I didn't have any of that and could just wipe it clean and suction out.

Originally posted by bohlke I am so jealous, I couldnt get anyone to sell me a tech tank with a lead time under 2 months My house projects will not wait two months so I have an AGA instead. On the positive side I did save some $$

Aww sorry to hear that. I don't know if there is a delay or not from Oceanic, but I was told 1 week here. I have time though I don't need the tank until march.

Originally posted by thrillreefer Nanogurl, what do you feed your fish to make them look so healthy and beautiful? That powder blue looks like you just teleported her from Hawaii. Beautiful fish, I want to know how to get my tiny blue tang to turn out like "Ocean." Do you use Selcon?

Thank you =)

I feed Ocean a mixture of a lot of things... brine, mysis, flakes, spirlina, formula 1 & 2, lots of nori clips.. and also garlic.

I have not used Selcon before but I have some on order and am going to try.

I have a lot of flow in my tank and higher temps and think that really helps him. He loves the current and oxygen which is important to tangs.

Okay... if I do that.. what's the advantage if some is going to the skimmer and some isn't? Is it bc the skimmer can't handle the entire flow?

Correct. Your sump will most likely be getting more flow than your skimmer would be able to efficiently skim, and sort of be a waste of some sorts. This way, you'll up the contact time that the water is in the skimmer and end up with cleaner water. I think you want 3-5x system turnover per hour through your skimmer. (wetwebmedia)

In your case with a 180, you'd want between 540 and 900gph going through the skimmer.

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40B Mixed Reef 100% Captive Grown Corals

See, that's the trouble with the world today. Not enough danger to kill off stupid people before they get old enough to breed. Bring back lawn darts! -PrivateJoker64

A submersible pump like Mag or Eheim will work. I've always used Mag pumps. For a 120, a Mag 9.5 or Mag 12 would be more than enough pump.

Both pumps have 3/4" threads on the outlet. You'll need a 3/4" to 1" (or 1.5") bushing, a 1" (or 1.5") union, 1" (or 1.5") PVC / SpaFlex to run up to the tank, then reduce down to what fits the bulkhead. *** The reason I listed 1" or 1.5" is because I don't know what size you'd prefer. Just do NOT use 3/4" for the entire run. ***

SpaFlex is very good because you can bend it somewhat, compared to rigid PVC. You can put SpaFlex in the over at 200F for 5 minutes to make it more pliable.

Rigid PVC works too, but you have to get it right with a few extra fittings.

A union allows you to disconnect the pump for cleaning.

Did you read my Sump article yet from this month's reefkeeping? There's even pretty pictures.

Originally posted by melev A submersible pump like Mag or Eheim will work. I've always used Mag pumps. For a 120, a Mag 9.5 or Mag 12 would be more than enough pump.

Both pumps have 3/4" threads on the outlet. You'll need a 3/4" to 1" (or 1.5") bushing, a 1" (or 1.5") union, 1" (or 1.5") PVC / SpaFlex to run up to the tank, then reduce down to what fits the bulkhead. *** The reason I listed 1" or 1.5" is because I don't know what size you'd prefer. Just do NOT use 3/4" for the entire run. ***

SpaFlex is very good because you can bend it somewhat, compared to rigid PVC. You can put SpaFlex in the over at 200F for 5 minutes to make it more pliable.

Rigid PVC works too, but you have to get it right with a few extra fittings.

A union allows you to disconnect the pump for cleaning.

Did you read my Sump article yet from this month's reefkeeping? There's even pretty pictures.

It would be better to use 1.5" even though it isn't for a long run (of plumbing). Mag pumps work better when you double the thread size. A mag 9.5 or 12 has 3/4" threads, so doubling it would be 1.5" plumbing.

SpaFlex is sold online or at Home Depot / Lowes. They sell it by the foot. I have pictures of all my plumbing using SpaFlex as well as rigid PVC on my 280g's sump page. And one day I'm going to make the time to do a page about plumbing because all I do is type this stuff out all the time. I'd rather just do it once, do it right and point people to it from now on.

I do have a couple of pages showing plumbing, both to my own sump as well as the "How to install a sump in an existing setup" page.

Depending on whom you talk to, you'll want your sump to turnover between 3 - 15x per hour of your system volume. I know Melev likes between 3-5, I'm up around 14x on mine. I like the added flow in the tank, my chaeto is always tumbling, and I've found no ill effects from the extra flow. You just need to have it dialed back so it doesn't out flow your overflow, if that makes sense.

As far as connecting the Mag drive to PVC, Home Depot or Lowes sells fittings that will adapt the 3/4" NPT thread to whatever size pipe you want. Mag drive manuals state that you want at least 2x the size of the outlet for your plumbing. In your case, 1.5" inner diameter.

For picking out the size of your pump you have two options. You can buy a pump that will outflow your overflow, and simply dial it back/divert it, or get a smaller one so that your overflow will always outflow your pump. Either way, we first need to find out how much your overflow will take, most of which is determined by the size of drain lines that are on the tank.

__________________
40B Mixed Reef 100% Captive Grown Corals

See, that's the trouble with the world today. Not enough danger to kill off stupid people before they get old enough to breed. Bring back lawn darts! -PrivateJoker64